First question! Carrier bearing play ?

I was changing my oil the other day and I moved the drive shaft to see how the u joints were doing. U joints were good but I noticed I had about an inch of play in any direction from the carrier bearing. It doesn't make any noise at all. Is that amount of play normal?

 

Nope 1" of play=no bueno

 

Changed mine about 3 months ago cause I had the Tacoma shakes and thought that was the problem. Are you shaking at highway speeds? Or any speed?

 

No, not shaking. Everything seems fine other then the play

 

I replaced mine last week. It was making a squeaking sound that sounded almost like a squeaky Spring but once it warmed up it went away. Changed it out and no squeak at all anymore. A lot smoother ride too. Before when I coasted off the freeway my truck would slow down faster. Now it coasts a lot farther with less resistance.

 

The bearing rubber bushing is pretty soft. It's supposed to be. If that bushing is not torn, it doesn't need changed.

Are you sure about that 1" of play? If you had that much slop, you would be contacting the bearing to the housing.

I don't think you have any thing to worry about. Please double check before throwing money at something that most likely is not broke.

 

Yeh if it's not shaking I wouldn't worry about it

 

I could be wrong about the inch of play but it seem significant. I'll just leave it and change it if it starts squeaking or causing vibrations.

 

How long did it take you to replace the carrier bearing?

 

2 - 2 1/2 hrs.

 

You have a lot of rust to deal with?

 

None. California truck.

 

Then it should be less than an hour.

Make sure you use lock tight on the flange nut. I made that mistake years ago and the nut vibrated off. Had to drive home in front wheel drive only.